What's next for the Busch Series?

The phrase has been
repeated so often that it’s turned into a mantra for NASCAR’s detractors, who
refer to the Busch Series as “Cup Lite” or “Cup Junior” because of the many
Nextel Cup drivers who populate the Busch fields. Those guys have a nickname,
too — “Buschwhackers.”

Car owner Jack Roush (left) and Nextel Cup regulars
Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin and Tony Stewart wait
along the pit wall for the restart of the 2005 Busch
Series Stater Bros. 300 at California Speedway.
The race had been delayed by rain.

That’s not how the Busch
Series wants to be known, especially as it enters the first year of a new TV
contract with ABC/ESPN and seeks $30 million a year from a new title sponsor
beginning in 2008.

But what’s the answer? How
does the country’s No. 2 racing series, based on TV ratings and attendance,
carve out its own identity without compromising those relatively healthy
numbers?

From track operators and
team owners to marketers and sponsors, the opinions are as abundant as Nextel
Cup drivers in a Busch race.

The most popular idea revolves around changing the car, both from
a competitive and appearance standpoint, because viewers should be able to
instantly identify the series by the car. But the suggestions don’t end there.
Maybe Nextel Cup drivers should be restricted to a limited number of Busch
races. Maybe the series should have its own Chase, similar to Cup, involving
the top drivers in points. And to heck with going to Mexico and Canada, take
the Busch Series to China and Japan.

NASCAR is working on a few ideas of its own. Officials want to
create Busch majors, much the same way golf has its major tournaments. They
might revive some form of Winston’s No Bull 5, a Cup program centered around
that series’ biggest events that ended in 2002, to emphasize select Busch
races.

Kasey Kahne (No. 9) from Evernham Motorsports battles Kyle Busch of Hendrick Motorsports
during the Busch Series Ameriquest 300 last season at California Speedway.

Double duty
Eleven ownership groups raced in both the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series and Busch Series last season, up from seven in 2002.

Whatever the suggestion, the consensus is that the Busch
Series must adjust if it intends to shake its “Cup Lite” label and maintain its
place as Nextel Cup’s developmental circuit, which is the identity NASCAR
wants.

“It has been a proving ground and it still is,” said NASCAR’s
Steve O’Donnell, vice president of racing operations. “As Cup owners continue
to scalp drivers at younger ages, it’s going to become even more important to
develop those drivers.”

But here’s the thing: The very aspect of the series that has
spurred its growth — the presence of Cup drivers — also serves as the chief
complaint.

“Unfortunately, there are problems,” said Larry McReynolds, a
racing analyst on Fox and a former crew chief for Dale Earnhardt, among others.
“I love the Busch Series and it’s very good racing, but it’s like somebody took
the lid off the box and before they got it back on, the lid got lost.”

In other words, the genie is out of the bottle. And now that
those who sell tickets, televise the races and sponsor the cars have profited
from the presence of Cup drivers in the Busch Series, their grip on them isn’t
likely to loosen.

The concern, though, is that the sport’s long-term condition
could suffer if the developmental series isn’t developing the next generation
of stars.

So, how likely is change? Consider that NASCAR CEO Brian
France dramatically altered the way the Nextel Cup champion is crowned when he
introduced the playoff-style Chase for the 2004 season, the same year Nextel
became the title sponsor and at a time when the series was thought to be as
healthy as ever.

Despite TV ratings that likely will make the Busch Series the
most-watched programming on ESPN2 this year and attendance that tops 100,000 at
some venues, France’s history indicates that he’s more likely to make changes
while the series is robust. As he’s said, a business that waits for a
significant downturn to make change has waited too long, meaning alterations to
the Busch Series, especially with a new title sponsor in 2008, could come
sooner rather than later.

But virtually no change comes without a cost. For every
prescription that soothes one stakeholder, another is potentially harmed.

Of the many ideas that have been floated, here’s a look at
five common suggestions to boost the Busch Series’ identity and what the
experts say:

Proposal:Cap The Number Of Cup Drivers Who Can Run A Busch Series RacePositives:More exposure and better chances for Busch-only teamsNegatives: Tough ticket sell, lower TV ratings, less sponsor interest

An average of 13.9 Nextel Cup drivers started each Busch
Series race in 2006, including as many as 23 (out of 43 starters) at the Lowe’s
Motor Speedway spring race. Nineteen Cup regulars started the season-opening
Busch race at Daytona, compared with eight just 10 years earlier.

Only eight times last season did a Busch race have fewer than
10 Cup regulars, and those were at stand-alone events, meaning no Cup race at
the same track the following day. And typically, the Cup drivers from the big
shops such as Roush Racing, Hendrick Motorsports, Richard Childress Racing and
others ran up front. Eight of the top 10 drivers in the Busch point standings
were Cup regulars, and just two non-Cup drivers won in 2006.

For those Busch sponsors without a Cup driver, valuable
exposure often proves elusive.

The Telcel-Motorola 200 at Mexico City was
last season’s
highest-rated Busch Series race

“The Cup name means a lot because name recognition is
critical,” said Brett Shanaman, AutoZone’s vice president of marketing. “It
adds value to the sponsorship and increases the probability that your car is
going to be visible. It’s also easier to activate because people know who
you’re supporting.”

NASCAR calls the influx of Cup drivers cyclical, saying that
young drivers have elevated into the Cup series so quickly, they need the added
experience of Busch racing. All six rookies who ran the full Cup slate in 2006
came straight out of Busch.

“Over the past 10 years, the number of Cup drivers in Busch
has gone up and down every year,” Busch Series director Joe Balash said. “It
may have reached a high-water mark last year.”

But that high-water mark has Busch stalwarts screaming for
change. Rusty Wallace, a former Cup driver and ESPN analyst who now owns a
Busch team, calls the presence of so many Cup drivers “its biggest problem.”

“There needs to be some kind of limit so the Cup guys don’t
steal the thunder,” Wallace said.

The problem with a cap of, say, no more than 10 races a year
for full-time Cup drivers is that it goes against NASCAR’s right-to-work
principle. You show up, you pass inspection, you qualify, you race — no matter
who you are, no matter what series it is. That’s how NASCAR has always done it.

And don’t even get the track operators started on the subject
of limiting Cup drivers in the Busch field. They’re the ones who have to sell
the tickets.

Texas Motor Speedway draws one of the largest Busch crowds of
the season at about 110,000, and while that number compares favorably with
other tracks, it’s less than 60 percent of the attendance for the track’s Cup
race. Eddie Gossage, president at Texas Motor Speedway, doesn’t want to
envision a day when he has to sell a Busch race without Cup drivers.

“We’ve got to have names,” Gossage said. “You take the Cup
guys out of the Busch Series and I can’t sell it. You’re going to have to drop
the purse back down to $100,000 and go back to racing at South Boston [Va.] and
Myrtle Beach [S.C.] in front of 8,000 people.”

Like the track operators, Busch team sponsors know the value
of instant name recognition in the driver’s seat. Zak Brown, CEO of Just
Marketing, said his agency represents two Busch sponsors (Roadloans and Henkel)
and both have a Cup driver in their car for at least a portion of the season.

“Hey, when you go to retail, people are going to know Carl
Edwards, whether he’s in a Cup car or riding a lawn mower,” Brown said. “Pepsi
has done a great job with Jeff Gordon. A lot of people know him as the Pepsi
guy as much as they do the DuPont guy.”

At the end of the 2006 season, Clarence Brewer, a longtime
Busch team owner, lamented the desire of sponsors to put a Cup driver in a
Busch car. It’s simply what they want if they’re going to spend $5 million to
$7 million a year as a primary sponsor, and many of them seem willing to pay a
$1 million or $2 million premium to get the name driver.

“You’re not given a chance to develop drivers,” Brewer said.
“You’ve got to take the guys coming backwards [from Cup].”

Sure enough, in early January, Brewer signed Ward Burton, the
2002 Daytona 500 winner, to drive two-thirds of the Busch schedule in a Brewco
Motorsports car. Burton, who also will drive for Morgan-McClure Motorsports in
the Nextel Cup Series, hadn’t had a NASCAR ride in nearly two seasons.

Limiting Cup drivers in the Busch Series, most argue,
threatens the short-term health of the series. It could hinder ticket sales and
TV ratings, and many sponsors might not find the series as attractive.

“Listen, if we’re going to pay $5 million or more to sponsor a
car, our position is that we need to run up front and win,” said A.G. Barlow,
senior marketing manager of motorsports at Rockwell Automation, a 10-year Busch
sponsor that won the 2006 Mexico City Busch race with Cup driver Denny Hamlin.

“The easiest solution is to put a Cup driver in the car.
That’s the easiest way to guarantee success.”

In the minds of many race observers, a series should be
instantly identifiable by the cars on the track, and that’s not the case with
the Busch Series. The series looks and feels much the same as Nextel Cup, hence
the “Cup Lite” references.

Also, the owners who race solely in the Busch Series scream
that the playing field is not even. Cup regulars enjoy more practice time on
the racetrack, so that when it’s time to race, they have a significant
advantage in preparation.

Change the car, change the tires, change the engine, do
something, Busch-only owners say. Create some differentiation between the Cup
and Busch cars or they’ll become extinct if they can’t compete.

“ESPN is going to show up at some of these Busch races and
there’s going to be 30 or 35 cars there [43 typically start a race] because
everybody’s gone out of business,” said Greg Pollex, a Busch team owner.
“Something’s got to change or else they’re going to realize one day that
they’ve waited too long to fix it.”

The discontent among the small-shop owners seems unanimous.
This is how Ed Rensi, a Busch owner and former CEO of McDonald’s, put it: “I
tell people all the time that, if you think NASCAR is for you, get a bottle of
scotch, get someone you know really well, get a couple of million dollars, go
sit in front of a fireplace and burn it. And if you can enjoy the hell out of
that, maybe you belong in motorsports.”

In addition to creating a separate identity for the Busch
Series, changing the cars also could help owners contain costs.

A spec engine — meaning
they’d all be the same — capable of running three to five races a season has
been tested in the Busch East and West junior series. Busch owners say their
annual engine budget of $1.2 million to $1.5 million would drop to about
$300,000.

Some team owners would
like to see new car models
introduced to offer a new look.

If owners could find a way
to reduce sponsorship costs to about $4 million a year, “we could sell that all
day,” Harvick said. “You can have the Cup guys still race, but if the
sponsorship would be easier to sell, you’ll have more owners and more teams
participating.”

Those who applaud NASCAR
for building the Busch Series say upcoming changes to the Cup car will create
differentiation without the need for fundamental changes to Busch cars. Nextel
Cup introduces the Car of Tomorrow for select races this year and a majority of
races in 2008, and features such as a detachable wing on the rear of the car
will distinguish its look.

“Then, the Busch car is
clearly going to be different,” said Roger VanDerSnick, chief marketing officer
at International Speedway Corp. and a former NASCAR executive. “When the cars
are different and the Cup guys aren’t benefiting as much from running in the
Busch race, you won’t see as many of them.”

Some manufacturers favor a
move to what’s known as the “Pony Cars” — Ford Mustang, Chevy Camaro, Dodge
Challenger — in the Busch Series. Manufacturers say that they’ve talked to
NASCAR about introducing these new models and talks are ongoing, but NASCAR’s
O’Donnell said the cost has been prohibitive thus far.

“The really hard part
about this is that you can’t make decisions in a vacuum,” said Bill Wynne, Ford
Racing’s marketing manager. “From a marketing perspective, a different car
identity would be a great opportunity, but you’ve got to look at the whole
picture. It’s really going to boil down to what NASCAR thinks this series should
be.”

Pony Cars have the ability
to give the Busch Series the identity it seeks and manufacturers say they’d
benefit from the marketing opportunity, but it doesn’t come without a cost.
Much of that cost would land squarely on the shoulders of the team owners, who
would have to spend millions developing a new fleet of 10 to 15 cars.

Even if the Pony Cars were
put on the same 105-inch wheelbase currently used in the Busch Series, the
bodies would need modification so they’d be proportioned properly, said Pat
Suhy, GM’s group manager for NASCAR.

“We’ve talked to NASCAR
about it and so have other manufacturers, but I think the feeling is that two
years down the road, with the Car of Tomorrow in Cup, you’ll see the
differentiation they want,” Suhy said.

Proposal: Create A Chase For The Busch TitlePositives: More end-of-year excitementNegatives: Would Cup drivers support a Busch Chase, too?

Hey, it’s worked for Nextel Cup, right? So wouldn’t a Chase
format in the Busch Series yield similar results? Wouldn’t it be a great way to
recognize those drivers who are committed to the series?

Sure, a playoff-style format might work in the Busch Series,
creating excitement down to the final race, just as it does in Cup. But as long
as Cup drivers maintain a healthy presence in Busch, would the Busch regulars
be able to compete well enough to earn spots in the Chase field?

And if Cup drivers do make the Busch Chase, is that any
guarantee they’ll run the full schedule? Greg Biffle made the top 10 in points
last season and still skipped five races.

A Busch Chase comes with its own set of hurdles, but the
majority of those interviewed favor the idea, even if it does rip off a Cup
idea when Busch is trying to differentiate itself.

“I would call it something
other than the Chase,” said Mike Bartelli, senior vice president of motorsports
at Millsport, whose NASCAR clients include Tylenol and Sunoco. “It needs its
own identity. Part of the problem is the lack of a clear, coherent brand, one
that stands apart from the Cup.”

The consensus is that only those drivers who are committed to
running the entire 35-race schedule would be allowed to compete in the Busch
Chase.

“If a Cup guy like Kevin Harvick wants to race the entire
Busch schedule and make those sacrifices, have no weekends off, hey, I applaud
him,” Fox’s McReynolds said. “They’re helping build the Busch Series and they
should be eligible for the championship.”

Proposal:Hold More Stand-Alone Events Vs. Companion EventsPositives:Potential new markets and expanded popularityNegatives:Companion events draw more eyeballs … and more sponsors

A vast majority of Busch
Series races are run on the same track as the Cup races and those companion
events tend to draw bigger crowds and better TV audiences. Sponsors also prefer
the atmosphere of the combined Busch-Cup weekend when it comes to hospitality
and activation.

The Busch Series will have
nine stand-alone events in 2007, including expansion north for its first trip
to Montreal. In 2006, those stand-alone events failed to meet the average TV
ratings for the season, with the exception of the Mexico City race.

The average network rating
for the year was a 2.2 (3.3 million viewers), buoyed in large part by the
season’s highest mark at Mexico City, a 3.5 on Fox (5.3 million viewers). The
Memphis race on NBC, the only Busch stand-alone event on the network, drew a
1.6 rating (2.4 million).

The season average for
Busch races on cable was a 1.7 (2.1 million). None of the stand-alone events
hit that mark, ranging from a low of 1.2 (1.4 million) at Milwaukee to a high
of 1.6 (1.9 million) at Kentucky.

The numbers from 2004 and
2005 were similar. With the exception of Mexico City, the highest-rated Busch
races are companion events.

Sponsors say the
stand-alone races don’t offer the same excitement when they’re not accompanied
by a Cup race the next day. Unless there’s a specific local tie, many sponsors
don’t even activate in those markets.

“For a big weekend, you go
with the companion events,” said Grant LaMontagne, vice president of sales for
Clorox Co., whose Kingsford brand is a 10-year team sponsor in the Busch
Series.

Sue Christopherson, manager
of motorsports for GM parts and service, including longtime Busch Series
sponsor ACDelco, said she rarely entertained customers at the stand-alone
events.

“You don’t have the weekend
attendees, you don’t have all of the RVs parked out there, you don’t have the
attendance,” said Christopherson, who ended ACDelco’s Busch team sponsorship
after 10 years and decided to focus on the NHRA this year.

Race promoters are trying
to change the perception that stand-alone events don’t carry the same cachet.
Kentucky Speedway is bringing in rock guitarist Peter Frampton to perform,
giving its June 16 Busch race an accompanying concert.

Stand-alone events also
take NASCAR to significant markets like St. Louis, Nashville and the
Louisville-Lexington, Ky.-Cincinnati areas, where the sport rarely appears on
the front of the sports section unless the race is in town. As NASCAR seeks to
broaden its audience, that exposure creates potentially more long-term good.

The Chase format has worked well in Nextel Cup,
but some wonder if Cup drivers would shut out
Busch regulars from making a playoff.

Harvick favors more
stand-alone events as part of a shorter schedule, which would give the Busch
races more chances to be the only game in town. The more stand-alone events on
the schedule, the more difficult it is for Cup drivers to logistically make the
races, so it could have a dual purpose.

And while the lack of Cup
names might create some short-term pains for track operators and sponsors, the
exposure in new markets where the spotlight stays strictly on the Busch race
has an inherent value.

“Give the guys their own
weekend, promote it as NASCAR, not Busch,” said Humpy Wheeler, president of
Lowe’s Motor Speedway. “You’re trying to make the sport healthier for the long
term and if you have to burp a little, that’s OK. A burp never killed anybody.”

The Busch Series’ first
two trips to Mexico City were huge hits, marked by tremendous crowds and
season-best TV ratings. Anticipation for the first race in Montreal this year
is already palpable, even though it’s more than five months away.

NASCAR Busch Series sponsors

Thirty-four companies have signed either a title or presenting sponsorship deal for a 2007 NASCAR Busch Series race. Only 11 of those companies (listed below) had a comparable deal in 2002, and only Anheuser-Busch and Kroger can trace such a deal back to 1982, the series’ first year.
• Aaron’s
• Bashas’ Supermarkets
• Anheuser-Busch
• Carquest Auto Parts
• Circuit City 250 presented by FUNAI*
• Food City
• Ford
• Kroger
• O’Reilly
• Pepsi
• Sam’s Town
* FUNAI was a sponsor in 2002; Circuit City was not.

Could the Busch Series
establish the identity of being NASCAR’s international ambassador? It goes
north and south of the border, so could it go overseas? Could it go to South
America?

Certainly not without a
significant subsidy from NASCAR to the teams to cover travel expenses.
Busch-only owners say they’re barely making it financially as it is and the
bigger shop owners don’t want to spend money on Busch that might take away from
their Cup operation.

From NASCAR’s perspective,
it sees plenty of room for growth in the United States.

NASCAR and ESPN are
attempting to sell the title rights by emphasizing the opportunity to improve
the series. ESPN says it will give the Busch Series’ stars Cup-like treatment.
And the new title sponsor will be challenged to help elevate the series’
status.

“We look at it as more of
an opportunity” NASCAR’s O’Donnell said. “It’s really an under-marketed
property and we see Saturdays as a huge growth opportunity. We can fill more
seats, we can promote the series and we’re going to with ESPN coming on board.
The sky is the limit for this series.”

Ultimately, NASCAR wants
the Busch Series to provide great racing, no matter who’s in the driver’s seat.

As it makes the pitch to
prospective title sponsors, NASCAR is pushing the idea that the Busch Series is
college football compared with pro football, in terms of the level of racing
and the marketing opportunities involved.

“With Triple-A baseball
vs. Major League Baseball, you look at it and know that it’s really not close
to the same thing,” said NASCAR’s O’Donnell. “But you can look at college
football and see that it’s a really good show, and that’s how we look at the
Busch Series. It’s an under-marketed property with huge growth opportunity.”

The success of Busch Series races in Mexico City
raises the question of whether the series could
become NASCAR’s international ambassador.

The difference, obviously,
is that college football has its own distinct identity and passionate
following, whereas stakeholders in the Busch Series say it lacks that identity.

NASCAR is counting on
ESPN’s involvement to provide a boost. Just this past week, the network began a
Busch campaign that includes three 30-second spots with drivers Carl Edwards,
Denny Hamlin and Stephen Leicht, along with 17 other Busch drivers, that will
run throughout the season.

It’s designed to “bring a
face and a personality not only to the Busch Series, but to the drivers as
well,” said Katie Lacey, ESPN’s senior vice president of marketing.

Edwards and Hamlin are Cup
drivers who will drive in a majority or all of the Busch races, which means
ESPN is doing the same thing promoters and sponsors are doing: tapping into the
Cup names to raise awareness of the Busch events.

But it’s with that kind of
promotion, ESPN and NASCAR believe, that the Busch Series can begin to
distinguish its races, even if many of those faces and personalities promoting
it belong to Cup drivers.

Most-watched Busch Series races 2004-06

Ranked by total average households

Network

Event (Week)

Track

Network

Rating

Households
(000s)

Season

Telcel-Motorola Mexico 200 (3)

Mexico

Fox

3.5

3,846

2005

Telcel-Motorola Mexico 200 (3)

Mexico

Fox

3.5

3,821

2006

Hershey’s Kissables (1)

Daytona

Fox

3.4

3,687

2005

Aaron’s 312 (10)

Talladega

Fox

3.3

3,621

2005

Hershey’s Kissables (1)

Daytona

NBC

2.7

2,969

2004

Cable

Hershey’s Kissables (1)

Daytona

TNT

3.3

2,947

2006

Stater Bros. 300 (2)

California

FX

2.6

2,212

2005

Winn-Dixie 250 (18)

Daytona

TNT

2.3

2,088

2005

Carquest Auto Parts 300 (13)

Lowe’s

FX

2.2

1,946

2006

Sam’s Town 300 (4)

Las Vegas

FX

2.2

1,912

2005

Least-watched Busch Series races 2004-06

Ranked by total average households

Network

Event (Week)

Track

Network

Rating

Households
(000s)

Season

Zippo 200 (24)

Watkins Glen

NBC

1.5

1,692

2006

Sam’s Town 250 (32)

Memphis

NBC

1.6

1,817

2006

Ameriquest 300 (27)

California

NBC

1.7

1,895

2004

Goody’s 250 (21)

Martinsville

NBC

1.7

1,926

2006

Arizona.Travel 200 (34)

Phoenix

NBC

1.8

1,997

2004

Cable

AT&T 250 (17)

Milwaukee

FX

1.0

852

2004

Carquest Auto Parts 300 (13)

Lowe’s

FX

1.2

997

2004

Busch Silver Celebration 250 (22)

Gateway

FX

1.2

999

2004

Pepsi 300 (8)

Nashville

FX

1.2

1,007

2004

Dover 200 (29)

Dover

TNT

1.1

1,022

2005

Note: Does not include events that were significantly delayed due to weather

Source: SportsBusiness Journal analysis of Nielsen Media Research

NASCAR Busch Series ratings trends

NASCAR Busch Series network ratings slipped last year, but the circuit has been trending upward.